Writght Morris- Straightback Chair, The Home Place
One of the most common questions I am asked at gallery openings or talks is about the meaning behind the Red Chair in my paintings. I always struggle to answer. Maybe because the answer is always changing for me. I don’t really know. I do know that I use it in my work because the chair is such an identifiable image that is known to anyone in nearly any culture and has an inherent meaning in its form. A place to sit and rest. Or eat. Or converse. Or any number of things. It is simply an icon of human existence.
But looking through some photo sites I came across the work of Nebraska-born photographer/writer Wright Morris (1910-1998). His stark and striking images of the Plains will seem very familiar to anyone who saw last year’s Alexander Payne film, Nebraska. I don’t know but would not be surprised if Morris’ imagery was a big influence on the visual look of the black and white film.
Wright Morris- Chair, The Home Place
But while looking at some of these photos I came across a few images of chairs in a farmhouse. They were from a book of his titled The Home Place, a photo-novel telling the story of a man’s one-day visit to where he had spent his childhood in Nebraska, the home place. The images were very evocative and looking at them, it dawned on me that the meaning of the Red Chair was the same. It was so obvious– it was the Home Place. The place where you have a chair in which to sit, accepted as a part of that place.
It is simple yet powerful, like Wright Morris’ photos.
It’s good to have an answer to give now when someone asks…
Redtree Times 
And, in every photo you shared here, the chair is right next to the door. It’s the first thing you are offered when you come home … “Here. Just sit.” Thanks for this beautiful reminder of what “home place” means.
I like your interpretation about the door and the offer to sit. That adds something to my own view. Thank you!
I have two press-back chairs that belonged to my grandparents. They were in the house when my mother was growing up. She recaned them at one point, and they look very much like the chair in the last photo.
This is a wonderful post. It reminds me of the book you mentioned once, about the old craftsman in Kentucky (?) — the one who talked about “learning to imagine.” I bought the book, but haven’t gotten into it. I need to do that.
And of course, there’s this.
I also have a couple of old press-back chairs. They have seen better days but I can imagine them in an earlier time in some farmhouse in the hills around here, like so many that I saw while growing up.
You mentioned the post and book about Chester Cornett, the Kentucky carver. That has become one of my most popular posts. I still get comments on it from his admirers, who maintain a high level of enthusiasm for his special talent.